Down To Earth(April1-15 2023)

1. INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE (IPCC) IN ITS SYNTHESIS REPORT

• Synthesis Report is a summary of the findings of six reports released during IPCC's Sixth Assessment Cycle in 2018-22. It does not provide any new data but highlights the delay and deception tactics used by industry and governments to cover up inaction.

Findings of the report:

• It reiterates that due to human activities excess emissions have raised the global temperature by 1.1°C above the 1850-1900 level.
• The report states that current levels of Nationally Determined Contributions might not be enough and that warming will exceed 1.5°C during the 21st century, and it will be difficult to stay below a 2°C threshold.
• Increased levels of greenhouse gasses, reduced capacity of carbon sinks will have a compound effect in the form of severe droughts and other natural calamities.
• This will impact human and other forms of life more severely.

Loopholes in Global Response and Firefighting Measures:

• Overall there has been some progress in adaptation measures but its effectiveness is not much due to certain factors like:
• Some ecosystems have reached their hard limits of adaptation, which means they can not adapt further without causing irreparable damage.
• Some other ecosystems are ready to adapt but are not able to because of unavailability of required technology, funds and other socio-economic factors.
• There is increased evidence of maladaptation in various sectors and regions, which affects marginalized and vulnerable groups adversely.
• Even effective adaptation does not prevent all losses and damages, state the authors of the report.
• There are widening disparities between estimated costs of adaptation and finance allocated to it.

Way forward given by report:

• All the low carbon emitting solutions are available but its implementation should be done on priority basis.
• Solutions include widespread electrification, diversifying energy generation to include renewables, deploying more battery-powered electric vehicles, and conserving and restoring forests while reducing tropical deforestation.

Political commitment and equity are also key to enabling the shift.

• The report emphasizes that accelerated financial support for developing countries from developed countries is a critical enabler, with a greater focus needed on public grant-based finance.

2. EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS AND AGRICULTURE

• UN's IPCC Report, WMO, MoEFCC etc have been repeatedly warning the world of more severe and frequent natural calamities like floods, droughts, cyclones etc. This has also been seen impacting agricultural productivity putting pressure on global food security.

CYCLONE FREDDY

• Cyclone FREDDY which crossed the entire South Indian Ocean and traveled more than 8,000 kilometers to affect six African countries for over two weeks. It broke many records due to intensification as per WMO.
• It had accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) at 87.01 units. ACE is a measure of total wind energy collected by a tropical cyclone.
• Its unique behavior may be due to exposure to warmer waters in the southern Indian Ocean.

Other similar Cyclones:

Extreme Events and agriculture:

• An increase in the number of days with extreme temperatures or rain has caused a decline in quality and size of seeds across India.
• Most wheat varieties require a temperature of under 25°C during the day in February-March. A 1°C temperature rise above 25°C shortens the reproductive phase by 6 % and the grain-filling duration by 5 %. March 2022 had several days with temperatures crossing 30°C.
• In 2022, Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand witnessed the spread of dwarf virus in paddy linked to high temperature in May and June.
• Drought during the early development of the seeds also reduces their quality at maturity.
• Apart from temperature and rain events, another reason is high speed winds which unsettle the field and uproot the plants.
• Rise in temperature hastens crop development, shortening the seed filling duration. It speeds reproductive development and pollen formation, leading to development of smaller seeds.

Varieties:

• Scientists see disease and climate resilient variety seeds as the possible solution to the problem.
• ICAR has been releasing varieties that can fight heat, disease and extreme weather since 2005.
• In February 2023, IARI registered a new heatwave-resistant wheat variety, HD3385, which is being tested at multiple locations in the current rabi season.

Conclusion:

• The global ocean heat content is at its maximum level as 90% of warmth generated by anthropogenic emissions is absorbed by oceans.
• The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Synthesis Report says that the rate of rise in agricultural productivity has declined over the past 50 years in mid- and low-latitude regions.
• Since this region includes vast parts of India, the country must ensure that its agricultural productivity, which depends on seeds.

3. POLLUTED GANGA

• Minister of State for Jal Shakti told Parliament that the Namami Gange Programme has been able to reduce pollution load in the Ganga river. Since 2014, the Centre had taken up 409 projects with a budget outlay of Rs. 32,912.40 crore to clean up the river.

GANGA

• The Ganges (Ganga) River is a sacred river that begins high in the Himalaya Mountains and empties out into the Bay of Bengal.
• Flowing a vast length of 2,525 Kms, it crosses five states of India namely Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• It has a catchment area of 8,61,404 sq. km (26.4%) of India.
• Major tributaries of River Ganga are, Ramganga, Gomti, Ghaghara, Gandak, Damodar, Kosi and Kali-East.

Current Situation of Ganga:

• At least 71 per cent of the river's monitoring stations reported alarming levels of fecal coliform. Fecal coliforms are a group of bacteria found in the gut and feces of warm-blooded animals. It enters into the rivers through discharge of untreated sewage.
• In Uttarakhand had permissible levels of fecal coliform at all 12 tested stations, numbers in three other states i.e Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal are alarming.
• In the Ganga basin approximately 12,000 million liters per day (mld) sewage is generated, for which presently there is a treatment capacity of only around 4,000 mld.
• The industrial pockets in the catchments of Ramganga and Kali rivers and in Kanpur city are significant sources of industrial pollution. The major contributors are tanneries in Kanpur, distilleries, paper mills and sugar mills in the Kosi, Ramganga and Kali river catchments.

How is monitoring done?

• CPCB currently carries out manual monitoring for five parameters, including faecal coliform.

Challenges in Cleaning Ganga and way forward:

• Data collection and dissemination is a major challenge for cleaning drives. Eg: Sampling is done every 15 days but data is made public monthly thus causing delays in action.
• Under the National Mission for Clean Ganga, manual monitoring should be carried out at 134 stations, but monitoring is currently carried out at 97 stations.
• The Centre released two guidelines in 2007 and 2017 which recommended 25 parameters for perineal rivers and it must be followed.

4. EARTH'S CORE AND GEODYNAMIC

• Earth's core plays a vital role in sustaining life on the planet. Still there is very little knowledge about what lies inside earth.

Structure of Earth:

• The earth is made up of three different layers: the crust, the mantle and the core.

The crust:

• This is the outermost layer of the earth and is made of solid rock, mostly basalt and granite.
• There are two types of crust; oceanic and continental. Oceanic crust is denser and thinner and mainly com posed of basalt. Continental crust is less dense, thicker, and mainly composed of granite.

The mantle:

• The mantle lies below the crust and is up to 2900 km thick.
• It consists of hot, dense, iron and magnesium-rich solid rock.

The core:

• The core is the center of the earth and is made up of two parts: the liquid outer core and solid inner core.
• The outer core is made of nickel, iron and molten rock. Temperatures here can reach up to 50,000 C.

More about The Core:

• Unlike the mineral-rich crust and mantle, the core is made almost entirely of metal, specifically, iron and nickel.
• The liquid outer core separates the inner core from the rest of Earth, and as a result, the inner core rotates a little differently than the rest of the planet.